A Mistake Worth Making
by freakyfresh
Summary: Nathan and Haley experience their first fight as husband and wife.


Haley looked down at the diamond pendent that now hung around her neck. She had been cooking lunch when she felt her husbands hands move her hair from her neck. She had expected to feel his lips on her skin, but instead was met with the cold silver chain of the necklace.

Her eyes met her husbands. The smile on his face was so big she could practically see all the love he had for her shining through.

"Do you like it?" If possible, his smile got bigger. She felt a small smile of her own come into play when she saw the childlike eagerness in his eyes.

"Nathan," Her voice was quiet. The knot that had began to form in her stomach the moment she realized what he had put on her, became even more prominent. How was she going to do this? "I adore it. It is the most beautiful gift I have ever received."

"Really? I knew you would! The lady at the jewelry store said it would suite you." He ran a gentle hand down her cheek.

"How did she know that it would suit me?" Her curiosity was peaked despite the

inevitable doom that lurked overhead.

"Get this," He felt like a little boy at Christmas. Haley had had a hard week at work with his mom still working there and being upset about their marriage. You would think she would start to get over it after six months. Her disapproval of the situation remained obvious and ever present. Haley wouldn't come right out and say it, but he knew that his mom had been making snide remarks. When he saw the necklace in the window, he knew he had to get it for her. "It was the same lady I bought your wedding ring from! She said the necklace was made by the same designer."

Haley giggled softly at his animated behavior; it was infectious. Nathan rarely showed this side of himself. That only made the situation even harder.

"Nathan," The look in her eyes and the tone in her voice told him something was about to happen, something that he definitely wouldn't be a big fan of. "I love you for wanting to get this for me, and I love you for the thought you put into it, but we have to return it."

There it was. Haley's heart ached when his smile dropped from his face and his eyes lost their excited sparkle.

"What? Why?" His voice was strained. She knew he was trying to hide his disappointment.

"Baby, money is tight enough as it is. We can't afford this." She laid a comforting hand on his arm, trying to bring him closer to her but he refused to budge.

"Well _sorry_ for trying to do something nice for my wife." The way he spit out the word "wife" made her inwardly cringe. Haley wasn't an idiot. She knew she had hurt his feelings, as sissy as that sounds, and she knew he was starting to get angry. His face had gone from shocked and disappointed to an emotionless stonewall.

"I didn't mean to upset you." She brought her hand to his cheek, "I just-" he jerked his face away and put more space between them. "Hey, don't do this." She stated firmly.

It would be better if she kept her cool but the more he acted like a child the more she felt that cool slipping.

"Do what exactly?" he gave her a hard glare.

"Put up your wall." Her eyebrows rose when he rolled his eyes at her. "Nathan, you need to calm down."

"Me? Oh I'm sorry, am I not allowed to react to anything anymore?" This is not what he expected when he surprised her in the kitchen. He thought they would share a sweet moment and she would end up in his arms. Sounds cheesy, and he knew that, but Nathan and Haley Scott were cheesy and they embraced it. However, now? Now they were fighting. Great. Just great.

"Of course you can react!" Haley tried to reason, "You have every right to do-"

"But only the way you want me to, right?"

"Stop, okay? Just stop." She was fed up and he was being irrational. "We can't afford to make impulsive decisions. We simply don't have the money!"

"What about our marriage, huh? That was an impulsive decision." His arms were crossed over his chest as if ready to shield himself from war.

Her stomach began to do nervous somersaults. Maybe it was how fast the conversation had escalated, or maybe it was the anger that burned like a fire in Nathan's eyes that told her this was all about to take a disastrous turn.

"That's different." She responded cautiously.

"How?" he scoffed.

"Because it wasn't a mistake."

"Yeah, well maybe it was." Just like that. He didn't even skip a beat.

Haley couldn't breathe. It felt like someone had literally punched her in the stomach. She didn't expect those words to come out of his mouth. She looked at her husband and saw a flicker of regret but it quickly went away and left an unreadable expression.

Nathan said things he didn't mean when he was angry. That is a known fact. But this? This hurt.

Tears threatened to fall but she didn't want to cry. Not in front of him anyways.

She reached around her neck and unlatched the necklace. She laid it down on the island countertop next to him.

They both stood there in silence, until the oven's timer went off letting her know the baked macaroni & cheese was ready.

Haley had completely forgotten about lunch. It wasn't as if it mattered anymore. She had lost her appetite.

She walked over to the stove and shut everything off.

With one last look at Nathan she mumbled, "Lunch is ready" and made her way to the bedroom.

Nathan didn't know what had come over him. He was so mad and hurt that she had rejected his gift that he couldn't stop himself. Did he mean it? Hell no.

As he stared down at the necklace, he wondered how something so small could cause so much trouble. He shouldn't have gotten it. Of course he knew there was a possibility that Haley wouldn't like the fact that he spent all that money getting her an expensive piece of jewelry, but with the excitement of the surprise he pushed that thought aside.

When he heard the bedroom door close, he was snapped out of his reverie. Nathan wanted nothing more than to go after her, but that would make things worse. What did he do instead? Sat down on the couch and played some NBA Live to clear his head.

Haley's tears wouldn't stop pouring. Did he really feel that their marriage was a mistake? She knew deep in her heart that he didn't feel that way, but the look on his face when he said it told her otherwise. He was stone cold about it. She had hated to shatter his excitement. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that Nathan was thrilled in giving her the necklace, and to be the one to take that look of pure innocent joy from his face was horrible.

The last time she had cried over Nathan was when they had a fight over those stupid Internet porn sites he had been looking at.

Oh my goodness! This was their first fight as husband and wife! The realization only served to cause more tears to flow. She couldn't just sit here and cry all day; she had to do something to take her mind off of things. Without hesitation she called Karen to see if she could pick up a shift. Sundays are always busy and Karen hardly ever turned down Haley's requests to come into work.

After she was given the okay, she put on some clothes and headed out the door.

When Nathan heard the bedroom door open his heart began to beat faster. What was he going to say? Haley was obviously coming out to talk to him, and he better prepare a good solid argument to convince her what he said wasn't true.

He pressed paused on the game and turned his head to see her coming down the hall.

"Why are you dressed like that?" Confusion clouded his features. He had expected to see her in her sofies and Ravens t-shirt, not her light-blue ripped jeans and "Karen's Café" shirt.

"I have to go to work." She stated simply as she grabbed her jacket from the hook by the door.

"I thought you were off today." Nathan made his way to the her. His hopes of resolving the problems that lingered between them were quickly diminishing.

"Karen gave me an extra shift. I didn't want to say no. I'll be back later." With that she was out the door.

Nathan wasn't an idiot. He knew what she said really translated to "I called Karen and begged for some work so I can get away from you."

The clock glowed 2:30am in bright red letters. Nathan had been lying in bed looking over the playbook of ideas Mouth had given him a few days ago when he must have dosed off. He reached a hand out to the other side of the bed and was met with air. Haley wasn't back yet.

Worry immediately set in and he got up and went into the living room, hoping that she was up late doing homework. Instead, he was met with the sight of his wife sleeping on the fold out bed that resided in their couch. He made his way to the other side and lay down next to her.

Haley is a beautiful girl, always has been and always will be. Nathan, much like now, would take any time he possibly could to just watch her.

He brushed the back of his knuckles across her cheek. There is nothing he wouldn't do for her.

Haley's eyes flutter opened and her brow furrowed as she tried to focus her vision. A small smile graced her lips when her eyes were met with the blue orbs of her husband. Ah, all was right in the world. That is until reality came crashing down and Haley's smiled quickly disappeared.

"Hales," his voice was thick with sleep, "Why are you sleeping out here?"

"I thought it would be better." Her eyes held his gaze.

Nathan wanted desperately to say something, but he knew words weren't necessary. They had always been able to say more with their eyes than their mouths. Although, the conversations they had with their mouths wasn't anything to complain about, if you know what I mean. A smirk set across his face at that thought, then dissolved when he heard Haley drop something in between them. It was a manila folder. He looked up at Haley, now propped up on her elbow with confusion. Then he realized what the folder contained and he thought he was going to be sick.

Haley saw the look of panic that crossed over Nathan's face.

"Haley, I-" he began.

"Shh," she placed a finger over his mouth. "Don't say anything. Not yet, okay?"

Despite the fact that his head was screamed at him to do something, say anything, he obliged to her request.

Annulment papers. Dan had brought them over to Nathan after he had recovered from his heart attack. One might think that a near death experience would make a person think upon his or her past deeds and have a fresh new outlook on life. Nope, not Dan Scott. He was still the same old bitter man he always was. Not even a week after he returned home, he paid a visit to Nathan to try and convince him of his mistake. Of course, Nathan threw the papers out right away. However, that didn't stop Dan from bringing a new copy of the annulment papers every week. She hadn't gotten around to throwing this weeks copy out yet.

Haley's focus seemed to be on her hand's path across Nathan's face. She started cupping his cheek, and then traced his jaw line. Gingerly she ran a few fingers down his nose and over his lips before placing a lingering kiss on his cheek. The feel of her lips on his skin sped up Nathan's heartbeat. She was being so sweet, so gentle, so loving that it increased his guilt.

"I know that people say things they don't mean when they are angry." Her voice was so soft he almost didn't hear her. She wouldn't look him in the eyes and that scared him. She just kept focusing on her fingers tracing his lips at a painfully slow pace. It was as if she was hypnotized.

"I also know that people say hidden truths in the heat of the moment." She pressed her fingers to his lips to shush him when he opened his mouth to speak. Her eyes finally connected with his. "You came into my life and completely changed it. I can't imagine where I'd be without you. I love you, Nathan. So much sometimes it feels as if my heart might burst. It is because of the love I have for you that I can say that I want you to be happy."

She paused, to get a grip on her emotions. She had to be strong through this, no matter how choked-up she got. Haley brushed a hand through his hair before proceeding.

"Even if it isn't with me." Haley moved her hand to lie on her side. She cleared her throat and continued. "I'll sign these. I'll do whatever you want me to do, Baby. Just know, that marrying you was the best decision I've ever made."

Nathan didn't know how he had gotten so lucky. His wife, oh how he loved to call her that, was the most amazing woman in the entire universe. Of course, he was scared out of his mind that she was going to hand him signed papers asking to get out, but he now knew that wasn't the case.

"Hales," Nathan threw the folder off the bed, grabbed her hip, and brought her against his chest. "I'm so sorry. You have to know I didn't mean what I said for one second. Being able to call you _my wife_, is the most wonderful honor. Marrying you will never be a mistake, Babe." He looked down into her eyes and saw the tears that threatened to spill over and gave her a soft kiss.

Haley held onto him tightly. She knew he wouldn't actually want her to sign the papers, but there was a nagging voice in the back of her head, that kinds sounded like Dan, that told her he would.

"I love you more than anything in the world. Do you know that?" He felt her nod against his chest

"I'm sorry too. I know you were only trying to do something nice for me." She leaned back and placed a hand on his cheek, rubbing her thumb back and forth.

"You have absolutely nothing to be sorry about. I was an ass." He smiled before capturing her lips again.

"Let's not fight anymore, okay?" Haley let out a giggle when Nathan's lips ticking her neck.

"No way," he mumbled.

"What?" She pushed him off of her. "Why not?"

"Because then we could never have hot make-up sex." He wiggled his eyebrows before drowning her laughter with his kiss.


End file.
